To enable the efficient elimination or controlling of unwanted plants, it is desirable to use effective chemical formulations of herbicides. Compositions containing two or more herbicides are desirable in agricultural, specialty applications and related endeavors due to broadening the spectrum or range of unwanted plant species killed or controlled.
Due to the desirability of having a composition with the above-mentioned properties, it is useful to combine herbicides to obtain enhanced control of numerous weeds with a single application. One method of preparing such a composition is referred to as “tank mixing” wherein the ingredients in their commercially available form are mixed together by the user, usually in a quantity of water. Tank mixes require the user to purchase two or more commercial formulations, store them, calculate the correct amount of each active ingredient, measure those amounts into the mix and when empty, properly dispose of a number of containers. Combining active ingredients into one pre-mix formulation is beneficial but frequently more complex due to widely different physical properties of the active ingredients in which chemical and physical stability are problems.
Fomesafen, the common name for 5-[2-chloro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy]-N-9methylsulfonyl)-2-nitrobenzamide, is a selective post-emergence herbicide used primarily for the control of broad-leaved weeds in soybeans. Fluthiacet-methyl, the common name for methyl{2-chloro-4-fluoro-5-[(EZ)-5,6,7,8-tetrohydro-3-oxo-1H,3H-[1,3,4]thiadiazolo[3,4-α]pyridazin-1-ylideneamino]phenylthio}acetate, a highly effective post-emergence herbicide used for the control of broad-leaved weeds mainly in maize and soybeans.
When used separately for post-emergence broadleaf weed control in soybean crops, fomesafen and fluthiacet-methyl do not adequately control major broadleaf weeds found in many soybean fields such as morningglory, water hemp and lambs quarters. Tank mixing the commercially available formulations of these actives slightly improves the control of these major weed species.
It would be most beneficial to provide chemically and physically stable pre-mix formulations of fomesafen and fluthiacet-methyl that improve the herbicidal activity of the mixture allowing the use of lower rates of each active.